Just Be a Kid
by sweet-destiny3
Summary: X-23 comes to live in the Xavier Institute. Will she fit in with the x-men and learn what family really is?


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Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters. They are owned by Marvel, WB, and Cartoon Network. 

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Author's Note: Hi fellow readers. I thought of this story at the spur of the moment and I want to give some credit to my older sister for encouraging me to write another X-men story. I enjoy portraying the characters in my writing. Well don't forget to review. ENJOY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

**Just Be a Kid**

"And this is your room," Logan said opening the door to the fourteen year old girl. She had been so afraid to start something so new. She would never tell anyone the truth of her fear of change, not even Logan. He had been so kind to her and she has never been treated with respect or love in her whole life. This is why she was the way she was. She rejected anyone who tried to get close to her. But she promised herself she would try this out because she had no where else to go. 

"I hope this is cozy for you," Ororo said as her glimmering blue eyes stood out because of her deep, ebony skin. 

"This is fine," the girl said solemnly. She didn't know what else to say. No one shared anything in common with her. Except Logan. They _did_ share something in common. They were both part of a horrible experiment they called "Weapon X". In fact, her whole life was based around this experiment. The people behind it, which she tried to forget, isolated her from life. From being a child. They wanted her to lack emotion and free will so she could be the perfect weapon. Weapon X twenty-three. That is what she thought of herself. Just a weapon. She had taken care of that matter and got revenge on those that did this to her. But it wasn't enough. There was still an empty space in her heart.

"Tomorrow you start school kid," Logan said in his gruff voice. He turned around and followed behind Ororo, or Storm. The girl turned around to see the back of Logan's thick head of black hair. 

"It's Desolate," the girl said with a emotionless expression. 

"What did you say kid?" Logan asked turning around and looking at the girl in a confused manner.

"My name is Desolate," the girl said as Logan nodded. "And stop calling me kid!" Desolate said angrily as she knitted her dark eyebrows.

"Good night," Logan said as he shut the door, "kid." Desolate pretended not to hear his last word. She hated it when he called her that. He acted as if he knows how much she suffered. But he doesn't. No one does. No one will ever understand. 

"Desolate," she repeated to herself as she looked around the room. She had chosen that name to erase her past identity. It fit her and her life perfectly. She had been isolated her whole life with no one to help her through it. No one to be there for her. She had wanted to get revenge on Wolverine because she thought he was the cause of her existence. They had done a similar thing to him and he just comforted her and reassured her that it would be ok. Now, he was the only thing she had. She would never hurt him but she wasn't going to be all lovey dovey. She could never be like that.

She looked around the room and walked over to the mirror that lay over a golden wooden dresser. She looked at her vague reflection. Her tanned complexion seemed lifeless. She wished she could be more happier than this, but she knew it was impossible. She ran her fingers through her long, straight, dark brown hair. She walked over to the closet and opened it. It was filled with clothes. She squinted her eyes in confusion. Was she supposed to wear these? 

"I am going to school tomorrow," she said to herself as her brown eyes shimmered with anxiousness. She has never even seen a school. She knew Logan wasn't going to go to school and she didn't know any of the other people living here. She had met the Professor, the woman called Storm, and Mr. McCoy, or Beast. But they certainly weren't going to attend school.

"I can do this," Desolate said to herself trying to build her self-esteem. "How hard could it be. I've been through so many more things that were tougher." Desolate laid on the bed and cuddled up in the covers with her clothes on. She has never even worn a pajama. She didn't want to either.

Tomorrow was going to be really different and she didn't know if she could handle it. She peered over to the window. She was a tough girl. That's what they had trained her to be all her life. She could easily escape through that window, even though they were on the second floor of the large mansion. She took her eyes off the window. It's too early, she thought to herself as she closed her eyes and fell into a deep sleep.

*********************************************************************

"Get out of the bathroom Kitty," Rogue screamed in an aggravated southern tone. Kitty phased through with a comb in her hand. She was brushing her long, light brown hair that lay in a high ponytail. "There are othe' people in this house ya know."

"Sorry," Kitty said as she brushed a strand of Rogue's white hair that lay in the front of her brown hair. "Like I had to take a shower before I went to school you know."

"Ja, I know," Kurt said as his shoulder length black hair shook. His physical appearance wasn't really pale with dark hair. He was blue and fuzzy and he used his watch to change his image for school. "No one but me goes to school vitout a shower!" Kurt exclaimed as Kitty started giggling.

"That's disgusting Kurt," Jean said as her red hair bounced with her tall, slender, cream colored body. 

"Tell me about it," Scott said brushing his fingers through his brown hair. He looked at Jean's mesmerizing green eyes and smiled. He has always had a thing for her and now it's out in the open. They are officially a couple. "Good morning," he said to everyone happily. 

Suddenly Rogue spotted a guy with bleached hair and shiny, ebony skin swing past her in a second. 

"Make way for the pro," Evan yelled as he slid down the rail of the stairs with his skateboard at his feet. 

"Evan!" Scott yelled as he folded his arms across his muscular chest. "How many times have I told you, NO SKATEBOARDING IN THE HOUSE!"

"Sorry Dude," Evan yelled as he turned around to see the professor. "AHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

"Evan!" Storm and Beast yelled as Evan tripped over the Professor's wheel-chair and went flying across the front hall. He landed flat on his face and got up, brushing his pants off of dust. After everyone found out he was ok, they broke out in laughter. 

"That is not funny," Evan said as he cracked a smile.

"Yes it is Bub," Logan said without a smile or laugh. Evan looked at him strangely. If it's funny, then laugh Dude, Evan said to himself. He knew Logan could be a little too serious sometimes, but he respected him as an elder and his Aunt's love interest. Aunt Ororo had a little thing for him and Evan thought that was extremely weird. Serious and tough with calm and nice. "Why didn't you warn me earlier Auntie O.?"

"Sorry Evan, but you know better," Storm said as she laughed at her nephew. Suddenly the new girl jumped out of her room and jumped from the second floor to the first. Her claws, just like Wolverine's, came out from her hands and shoes. They pointed directly at Evan. 

"Whoa!" Evan exclaimed as the Professor held up a hand for the rest to stay out of this. "Whatever I did, I'm sorry."

"Desolate, it's ok," Professor X said calmly as he put his hands together in a calm fashion and strolled over to the angry girl. "It was an accident. There is no need to get violent."

Desolate looked around and realized that everyone was looking at her. She didn't say anything. She put her claws away and realized that there had not been an intruder. She just went with her instincts when she heard the noise. She was trained that everyone was her enemy. She had to learn that that wasn't true. She ran upstairs as the others made room for her. Logan ran up after her. He knew she was probably thinking about leaving by now and she couldn't. He had to talk to her.

He knocked on the door, but no one responded. He opened the door and walked in. Desolate had cuddled up in her bed again and was planning to go back to sleep. "I shouldn't even be here," Desolate said to Logan who sat at the edge of the bed.

"It hasn't even been half of the day yet," Logan said sympathetically. "Don't give up just yet. Give it a try."

"I DON'T WANT TO GIVE IT A TRY!" Desolate screamed in anger to Logan as she shot up in bed. "YOU BROUGHT ME HERE, NOW TAKE ME BACK!"

Logan could handle her yelling and anger. He has before. He knew he could handle her because he is somewhat like her. He decided to answer back the same way. "WOULD YOU JUST GIVE IT A DAMN TRY!!!" Logan yelled. He wanted to slap himself for swearing in front of a fourteen year-old girl, but that's just the way he was. "Look, you come here two months later from the last time I saw you in search of hope here. Just like the rest of us. No one ever found hope by quitting this easily. I thought you were brave. Now show it Bub," Logan reasoned with the kid.

Desolate just looked at him with angry eyes. It seemed as if she was about to hurt someone. "Get out so I can change," Desolate yelled as Logan smiled in his mind. Now that was more like it.

Desolate stayed quiet in the red convertible. She was sitting in between a guy that looked about seventeen and a red headed girl that looked about the same age. It had only been a minute in the car and already she felt unwelcome. She looked in the rear view mirror to see a Jeep driving in the back of them with four unfamiliar faces laughing and swerving.

Scott stuck his head out of the pulled down window of the driver's seat and yelled, "Kurt, watch out for the road and stop goofing around!"

Desolate looked at him as her dark hair blew in the wind. He seemed as if he was the leader and responsible one in the group. He also seemed friendly, but Desolate tried to avoid conversation. She stared at the road with dull eyes.

"If you have Mr. Jacobson watch out for his chalky hands. He tends to brush the chalk off his hands right in front of the students sitting in the front row. 

"If you see Principal Kelly, try to avoid him," Jean stated as she rolled her eyes. "Don't signal that you're a mutant. He _despises_ them. After we were revealed as mutants of course. Be careful for people who like to tease us and humiliate us."

"Jeez Jean. Don't scare Desolate on the first day," Scott said giving Jean a fake annoyed look.

"I'm _not_ scared," Desolate said knitting her eyebrows together. The truth was that she was scared. No one could know that she was. Only her. Her heart started beating faster as they approached the school parking lot. She had never seen anything like it. As all seven kids hopped out of the two cars Evan came running towards Desolate. She was walking faster trying to ignore him. "What do you want?" she said hoarsely.

"I just came to see how you were doing," Evan said as he stared at her eyes for a long second.

"I'm fine. I don't need your help or your sympathy," Desolate said gruffly. 

"Hey I'm not trying to be sympathetic," Evan said as he looked at her from the corner of his glistening brown eyes. Desolate caught his glance.

"What are you looking at?!" Desolate exclaimed as Evan nodded his head.

"Oh nothing," Evan said embarrassed by his forwardness. "I just wanted to say, no hard feelings about this morning, right?" he said as he held out his hand for a handshake. Desolate gave him a hard stare. She didn't want to be really cruel to such an innocent boy. Without a word she let out her hand to shake his.

"The name's Evan," Evan said as they exchanged glances.

"Desolate," she said as she hurried away. She didn't want to be too friendly with them. Not yet. Maybe not ever.

She walked in the front doors of the huge high school. She creased her eyebrows and examined everything before she went ahead. She saw a whole group of people yelling about something. It didn't sound like they were angry, but more like happy and excited. She hid behind the lockers. She took a glance at the tall, muscular men cheering. They held an odd shaped brown hard object in their hands. They all had similar shirts with numbers on them. She gasped.

"Sorry didn't mean to scare you," Kurt exclaimed. "I teleported here to see how you vere doing." Silence. "So, how are you doing?"

"I don't need anyone to come up and check on me," Desolate said. "I'll be fine. I'm not stupid, I can handle this."

"Fine. Vhatever you say," Kurt said teleporting out of Desolate's way. She took a deep breathe of aggravation. Did they think she couldn't handle this? Maybe they were just trying to……what's that called……taking care of her. _No, _Desolate said to herself. _It couldn't be. I mean no one care's about me. They shouldn't at least. _She kept on walking until she saw the group that shared the house she was living in. She hid behind a crowd of people as she listened to them talking.

"You and Jean are going on another date?!" Kurt asked with excitement as him and Kitty jumped up and down. 

"No Kurt," Scott said seriously. "You can't do what you did last time even though you asked for our approval this time. That was low and you promised you wouldn't do that again before we cause another big fight."

"Ja, I guess your right. But you have to admit that the make-up vas fun," Kurt said with a chuckle in his German accent. Kitty started giggling as they all joined in. Even Rogue.

"The funniest part was when we jumped on Logan," Evan said laughing. "Man, we've never seen that side of him before!"

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They have so much fun with each other, Desolate thought to herself sadly. _I don't even know how it feels like._ She spotted the girl called "Jean" and "Scott" looking at each other in a special way. _I think it's called love. That funny connection between a man and a woman. I studied about it but I don't even know what it really is,_ she thought to herself as she looked at them again. She could tell that their bond was so strong. It was unbearable for her to watch any longer. 

She kept on walking until she finally found her first period class. The whole way here she saw people exchanging hugs and making conversation. School seemed like a fantasy world to her. She peered in the classroom with black desks that she knew as science desks from the school manual she bought. The manual didn't say anything about the people. She noticed Evan sitting at a desk looking in his science book.

Should she sit next to him? "Hey Desolate! Over here," Evan said waving for her to sit next to him. Well she didn't have a choice now. Logan had told her to try to be friendly with her fellow housemates. "What's up?"

Desolate looked at him confused of what the expression "what's up?" meant. He shrugged it off as Desolate put her backpack down. She tried not to sit so close to him. She got this weird feeling in her stomach when she examined Evan nice features. Why was she even staring at him?

"HeyDaniels," a white haired puny little kid said in a fast tone. Desolate looked at him intently. What did he want? It didn't sound like he was friendly and she knew what unfriendly was. "Ilostmysciencebook," he said quickly. "Give meyours." Desolate tightened her lips as she noticed Evan's nice smile turn into a frown.

"Hey!" Desolate said. "Leave him alone!"

"Oh now youhavegirls defending youDaniels?" Pietro said annoyingly. Desolate shifted in her seat as if she was going to start a fight with the annoying boy.

"No Desolate," Evan said pulling her back down with his hands. "This creep is not worth it. Anyways, you don't want to get in trouble on the first day of school do you?" 

Desolate didn't answer and just backed down. "Hey, are you a freak too?" a perky blond girl and football player asked as they broke out in laughter.

Desolate's breathing got deeper by the minute. She couldn't do this any longer. Tears welled up in her eyes for only the second time in her life. She was taught to never cry. She sucked her tears back into her eyes forcefully and ran out of the classroom before the class could even begin. Evan ran after her.

"Thanks-for-the-book," Pietro said as he raced to Evan with his speed and grabbed the book before Evan could do anything. "I'll get you later Pietro." Evan would've done something any other day. But he had to follow Desolate. They couldn't lose her. She needed somewhere where she could feel wanted. The ignorant people at school weren't making it any easier. He would get his book later.

He ran outside to find Desolate on the bench in the empty grass area. "We've learned to put up with those losers everyday now," Evan said as he took a seat next to the wide eyed girl staring into space. "Not everyone is that bad. Don't let them give you a wrong idea about the world. Some people are compassionate and will except different people and change. Others won't."

"Leave me alone," Desolate said. "People have left me _alone _all my life. This isn't any different." Tears welled up in her eyes again. 

"Desolate, don't be afraid to cry," Evan said as he tucked one strand of her hair behind her ear. She brushed his hand away coldly as tears streamed down her face. She started sobbing in an instant after Evan told her it was ok to cry. She got up off the bench and ran away. "You can't run all the way to the mansion!" Evan yelled.

"Yes I can!" Desolate yelled.

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It was seventh period and Evan was sitting in his desk in Math class. He couldn't get his mind off of Desolate. Cruel people had made her feel unwelcome when that's all she felt inside. They had to ruin everything. Pietro too and he was a mutant himself, along with the rest of the brotherhood.

"So she just like left," Kitty asked Evan who was tapping his pencil on the wooden desk. He nodded. 

"Maybe someone needs to talk to her," Rogue suggested leaning on the palm of her hand. "Have y'all told Scott, Jean, and Kurt?"

"No," Evan said vaguely. 

"What's wrong with him?" Rogue asked as Kitty shrugged. The bell rang as they shot out of the boring class to talk to Desolate. 

"Scott! Jean! Kurt! Like Desolate's gone," Kitty exclaimed. "She left school!"

"Chill, she just went back to the mansion," Evan said.

"Perfect plan for her to run," Scott said to Evan folding his arms across his chest. 

"Sorry," Evan said as he ran outside and ran towards the direction she went. They all ran after him. 

"Evan! How about taking the car!" Jean said as they all hopped in the convertible and Jeep. They drove off until they reached the woods. That was their first stop.

"Hey Evan, I saw Pietro vatching us leave," Kurt said as Evan shrugged it off.

"DESOLATE!" he yelled to see if she was anywhere. But she was no where to be found.

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Desolate sat on the piece of wood that was on the forest floor. She sat alone in the woods crying her eyes out. Life was so cruel. What had she done to deserve this punishment? She didn't even know _how_ to be a kid.

"……solate!!!!" she heard a masculine voice call from far away. Evan! He had found her! She couldn't let anyone see her like this. She ran towards the voice but hid behind a tree. She peered towards the group that was far away. She couldn't hear their words to each other but she was glad they far enough.

Suddenly, she saw the guy with white hair from class come up to them. Should she interfere? Why? He wasn't bothering her? Well, Evan did comfort her when other people were being mean to her. Why shouldn't she do the same for him?

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"HeyDaniels," Pietro said. "Your exact words were: 'I'll get you later Pietro'." Pietro mimicked Evan in an obnoxious tone. He sped around him like a flash of lightening. "Don'tlet yourfriendsfightyour battlesfor youDaniels. You don't see the rest of the Brotherhood with me, do you."

He sped around Evan and knocked him on a tree before Evan could shoot his spikes at him. The rest tried to use their powers against him but he kept circling them. Then Jean raised him in the air with her telepathic abilities to slow him down. He sped away as fast as he could to Scott and took his visors off of his face. Scott's eyes shot strong red beams at Jean on accident and she moved out of the way.

When she did she flew across the forest because she couldn't hold her powers for long. Kurt teleported to him but he grabbed Kitty and threw her down the steep hill so Kurt could teleport to her to save her. Pietro pushed Rogue towards Kurt so she could teleport with him. 

"Thattakes careof-everything," Pietro said as he rubbed his hands together in enthusiasm. It usually wasn't this easy but he was improved because Magneto, his father, had trained him to be better. "And I didn't need help from the Brotherhood unlike you X-men." Kurt, Rogue, and Kitty came up from the hill worn out.

"SHUT UP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" came a loud, angry voice from behind a tree. Desolate kicked Pietro in the stomach and knocked him on the ground before he could even move. "Friends are supposed to help each other out!" He got up and circled around her, but before he could throw a punch at her, she let out her claws and scraped his shoulder. He fell flat on his face. She had the chance to kill him. She Held up her claws and…

"Desolate, NO!" Evan yelled.

Her claws went through the ground. "Leave," Desolate said as Pietro raced out of there slower than usual.

Scott and Jean approached her and put their hands on her shoulder. She looked at them with a straight face as her breathing became harder. Rogue, Kitty, and Kurt approached her and smiled. Evan got up and gave her a big hug. He wrapped his arms around her and she just stood there. What was she supposed to do. 

Evan felt her shaking. He took her hands and put them around him. Her hands began to shiver. She closed her eyes and knew that she was going to stay.

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"……And then Desolate came and helped us," Kurt explained to the Professor, Storm, Beast, and Wolverine.

Logan looked at her and smiled. "I say ve celebrate vith music. Oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah," Kurt said twirling his hands in the air. Kitty giggled and Desolate looked at her. She giggles a lot. Kurt _was_ funny. 

"May I have this dance?" Logan asked Storm and Scott asked Jean.

"Dance vith me Kitty," Kurt said as he grabbed Kitty and they started dancing to the music coming out of the boom box Kurt had brought down to the hall. 

"Come on Beast," Rogue said as Beast picked her up and threw her in the air. 

"Ahhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Rogue yelled.

"May I have this dance?" Evan asked Desolate as he took her hand and taught her how to dance. Then a fast song came on. 

"Boogie, voogie," Kurt said as they all started dancing in a group. Desolate let out a loud laugh. Then she put her hand over her mouth. Evan took her hand away from her mouth. 

"You have a cute laugh," he said smiling.

The Professor watched as they all danced away and he spotted Desolate. Another collection to his students. Someone who could finally live her childhood. He smiled as he watched her having fun.

Desolate smiled at her first family ever. The only people that really ever cared about her. Her smile never left her face.

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